NIYAMASARA
( Soul-Jiva )

1. Bowing to Vira Jina, who, by nature is the possessor of infinite and
supreme knowledge and conation; I shall compose Niyama-Sara, preached by
Kevalis and the Shruta Kevalis.

Commentary

In this gatha, Shri Kunda-Kunda Acharya, who lived in the first century of
the Vikrama Era, renders homage to the last of the twenty-four
Tirthankaras, Lord Mahavira, also called Vira, and enshrines Him in his
heart for the purification of his thoughts; so that he may be able to
fulfil, his undertaking successfully. Further, the Acharya expresses it
emphatically that whatever he will write will not be his won independent
teaching, but will be fully based upon the authoritative pronouncement of
Kevalis and Shruta-Kevalis.

Kevalis are those Omniscient Supreme souls, who still occupy a highly
refined physical body, but are free from the four destructive Ghatiya
Karmas, and whose �perfect� ( Kevala ) knowledge is full, all- pervasive,
and independent of senses, and comprehends all-at-once without effort, the
whole manifested and unmanifested universe, with all its past and future
modifications.

Shruta-Kevalis are those saints who have obtained perfect knowledge of all
the Scriptures.

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2
In the Jaina Scriptures, the Path and the Fruit of the Path are
described as the two parts The means of liberation constitute the Path,
and liberation is the Fruit.

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3. What is in reality worth doing ( is) Niyama, and that is belief,
knowledge, �conduct. In order to avoid deflection, the word Sara has teen
particularly affixed to it.

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4. Niyama ( is ) the way to liberation; its fruit is supreme Nirvana. Each
of these three, is again described.

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5. Belief in the Perfect Souls, the Scorers and the Principles is Right
Belief.

He who is free from all defects and is -possessed of all ( pure )
attributes is the supreme soul.

7. One free from all defects and possessed of sublime grandeur such as
Omniscience is called Paramatma (the Highest Soil!) or the�Perfect One
One who is not such, ( is ) not Paramatma. .

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8. Words proceeding from his mouth, pure and free from the flaw of
inconsistency are called Agama ( scripture. ) In that Agama the principles
(Tativartha ) are enunciated.

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9. Soul, Matter, medium of motion, medium of rest, space, ( substances )
having dimension, and Time, together with their various attributes and
modifications are said to be the principles (Tattvartha.)

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10. Soul is characterised by Upayoga. Upayoga is towards Darshana or
Jnana. Jnana Upayoga is of two kinds, Swabhava Jnana or Vibhava Jnana.

Commentary.

In Panchastikaya Samaya Sara, Volume iii of the Sacred Books of the Jainas
Series, page 15, Professor Chakravarti says that the term Upayoga is used
to denote Darshana and Jnana. Darshana is perception, and Jnana is
knowledge.

In Dravya
Samgraha, Volume I of the S B. J. page 9, Mr, Sarat Chandra Ghoshal says
that Upayoga is of two kinds, being connected with Jnana, and Dirshana.
Upayoga is the resultant of consciousness. Roughly, Upayoga- may be said
to be a sort of inclination which arises from consciousness. This
inclination is either towards Darshana or towards Jnana.

The difference between Darshana and Jnana consists �ii this, that in the
former the details are not perceived, while in the latter the details are
also known.

Mr. Herbert Warren in his �Jainism� on page 29 says;- � Before we know a
thing in a detailed way, there is the stage where we simply see, hear, or
otherwise become conscious of it in a general way, without going into its
ins and outs. We simply know it as belonging to a class. This is the first
stage of knowledge it may be called detail-less knowledge or Indefinite
cognition (Darshana). If this stage is not experienced there can be no
knowledge of the thing-�